Lev: Ahead of battle, brothers play down rivalry

Jan. 23, 2013

Updated Aug. 21, 2013 1:17 p.m.

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49ers coach Jim Harbaugh, left, says he's uncomfortable being in the spotlight for the Feb. 3 Super Bowl for facing off against his older brother John, coach of the Ravens. He prefers the attention go to the players instead. MARK HUMPHREY, MATT SLOCUM, AP

49ers coach Jim Harbaugh, left, says he's uncomfortable being in the spotlight for the Feb. 3 Super Bowl for facing off against his older brother John, coach of the Ravens. He prefers the attention go to the players instead. MARK HUMPHREY, MATT SLOCUM, AP

One of the things that makes fantasy football so fun is the opportunity to beat your buddy – or even your brother.

The head-to-head meeting slated for a week from Sunday is a fantasy the Harbaugh brothers never thought possible.

This isn't Kevin and Taco vying for the Shiva on "The League." This is John and Jim Harbaugh dueling for the Lombardi Trophy – the most coveted prize in the sport they were born to coach.

"I don't know if we had a dream this big," said John Harbaugh, whose Baltimore Ravens face baby brother Jim's San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII.

"We had a few dreams, a few fights. We had a few arguments. Just like all brothers."

You're going to hear an awful lot about the Harbaugh brothers over the next week and half, probably to the point of overkill. Before we reach that juncture (likely sooner than later), let's get one thing straight: The Harbaughs are not like all brothers. In one critical way, they're not like any brothers.

The Harbaughs are the first set of brothers to face each other as head coaches in a postseason game in any of the four major team sports, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. That makes their parents, Jack and Jackie, the first set of parents to watch their kids duke it out. Perhaps only Richard Williams and Oracene Price, parents of Serena and Venus, truly can relate.

(I know I can't. I get stressed out when my boys fight over Legos, never mind Lombardis.)

One would imagine Jack and Jackie are feeling proud but conflicted. No matter what happens in New Orleans, one of their sons will win – and the other will lose. Postgame hugs are the appropriate response in either case.

The postgame embrace between John and Jim – assuming the ultra-competitive Jim doesn't do John like he did Jim Schwartz – will be the most-watched moment in the most-watched television event of the year (and possibly of all time). Their contact to date has been limited to text messages. They're kind of busy with other matters.

Those duties include addressing the media, and Jim said something really interesting in response to the first Harbaugh-vs.-Harbaugh question sent his way. He described the situation as "a blessing and a curse," but not in the way you'd assume.

The blessing, according to Jim, is twofold: (1) His older brother made the Super Bowl; Jim seems happier for him than for himself. And (2) Jim played one season for the Ravens, in 1998, and still has fond feelings for the organization.

The curse? The simple fact that everyone is talking about the coaches instead of the players.

"I just feel like the fighters are first," Jim Harbaugh said. "The ones that are playing in the game, the players, they're the ones that have the most to do with it. And they're the ones we should be talking about."

Whether they like it or not, the Harbaughs have received much credit for two impactful in-season moves: Jim's promotion of quarterback Colin Kaepernick and John's firing of offensive coordinator Cam Cameron. A reporter asked John Harbaugh about the boldness of those moves.

"I don't know. ... To me, it all goes together in total," he said. "It was an important move. But Joe (Flacco) made some bold throws. Anquan (Boldin) made bold catches. The defense made bold plays. There were bold hits. ... There were bold coverage plays on special teams. There were bold kicks. To me, that's the boldness of football. That's really what matters, and the credit goes to the players."

Sound familiar?

Though they were preaching similar doctrines this week, John and Jim aren't carbon copies of each other. While big-hearted John seldom shows his cold-blooded-competitor side to the public, merciless Jim rarely reveals the one-of-the-guys part of his personality that inspires his players to fight so hard for him.

Their teams do have similar traits: nasty defenses, balanced offenses, strong-armed quarterbacks, an overall goal of being as physical as possible.

"I'd like to think when you look at those two teams, you are looking at mirror images," John Harbaugh said. "I'd like to think that."

John would like to win the Super Bowl. So would Jim. That's every coach's dream. But, at least in Jim's case, it isn't the only one.

"The way Colin Kaepernick runs, the gracefulness of his stride, the ground that he covers, it reminds me of me when I run," he said. "And then I wake up."

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